Bannock advice for newbie!

[bert333]

Sorry Guys and dolls but I do have a question about one 'component'

I have read many post and the recipes about bannock but one thing foxes me and I hope someone can throw some light on this

What is best:
The use of Baking Powder OR Bicarbonate of Sodium ?

and your reasons please
Thanks

(it would seem that Baking powder should make it lighter)

 

[fishy1]

Baking powder contains bicarbonate of soda and cream of tartar I believe. If your mix is acidic, bicarb would be fine. If not, it might not work.

 

[Schwert]

If you are using a sourdough starter then soda will work, but if it is just a flour, water base then you need to use baking powder to form the CO2.

Here is a little bit fancy bannock using sourdough starter and soda.

Starter (well fed with potato and flour for 3 days ahead)

Unbleached flour
Spent barley grain (beer making spent grain)
Frozen blackberries
Soda

Mix to a very sticky dough, flour and lay in a greased iron pan.

Let rise 4 hours

Sprinkle with Penzey’s Baking Spice (cinnamon, cardamon and other brown aromatics)

Bake 350 deg for about 1 hour.

The sourdough and tart blackberry make for a very nice treat. Not really sweet but a good combination of chewy bread with fruit. The aromatic spice topping just caps it well.


The sourdough must be acidic for soda alone to work. I added soda to this mix to temper the sour rather than as a leavening agent. Soda alone would not have lifted this dough this high...the yeast did that.

Baking power is a mix like fishy states. It forms CO2 when wet and when heated. A quick bannock (not raised) should use baking powder.

 

[Schwert]

Here is a bit more complex but very very tasty bannock....


Sourdough Tomato Sage with Blakened Tomato

Sourdough starter (well fed with potato and flour 2 days ahead)
Potato flakes
Unbleached flour
Spent barley grains
Flax meal
Albanian whole leaf sage
Red pepper flakes
Coarse ground black pepper...lots
Sea salt
Two tomatoes cut in 6ths and fried in butter to blacken…chop and add warm to the to very soft dough...warm

Stir in more flour to a sticky dough….roll into a ball and flour.

Let rise in a bowl for about an hour

Transfer to an iron pan, push down a bit, sprinkle top with alder smoked sea salt and let rise about 4 hours.

Bake at 350 for about one hour.

Bob’s your uncle. My best savory yet. Chewy, moist, whole grainy, with a red pepper heat and super tomato flavor.

 

[bert333]

are making me hungry!! looks fabulous although..... I sense a kitted out kitchen behind all those
Will have to simplify for out 'in the field' but it seems Baking powder is the one to carry.
Thanks for taking the trouble to make such nice posts

 

[Schwert]

Sourdough is not used as much in the field as it once was. Worth doing though as the flavor is so good. A simple bannock or a more complex bannock makes for a satisfying bread. I would recommend kitchen bannock weekly to keep up the sourdough starter and perfect field recipes too.